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December 19
Events * 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. * 1154- Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey *1606 - The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who, at Jamestown, would found the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States. *1777 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge. *1828 - Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828. *1835 - The first issue of The Blade newspaper is published in Toledo. *1843 - A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is first published in England. *1912 - William H. Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by President Taft after 3-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison . *1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun - On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position. *1920 - King Constantine I restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebescite. *1941 - Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army *1961 - India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India. *1963 - Zanzibar receives its independence from the United Kingdom, to become a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed. *1965 - Prison guard George Hodson is killed during Ronald Ryan and Peter Walker's escape from HM Prison Pentridge in Coburg. *1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead. *1972 - Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth. *1981 - Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas. *1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janiero. *1984 - The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997, is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher. *1997 - Silkair Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104. *1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate. *2000 - The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, killing one person and injuring three. *2001 - The fire at the World Trade Center, as a result of the September 11, is finally extinguished after three months. * 2001 - A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia. * 2001 - Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots - Riots erupt in Buenos Aires after Domingo Cavallo's corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits. *2003 - Nepal financial crisis leads hundreds to protest outside of presidential palace. Births *1554 - Philip William (d. 1618) *1683 - Philip V of Spain (d. 1746) *1699 - William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777) *1714 - John Winthrop, American astronomer (d. 1779) *1778 - Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, eldest child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (d. 1851) *1813 - Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist (d. 1885) *1817 - James Archer, Confederate general (d. 1904) *1831 - Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884) *1852 - Albert Abraham Michelson, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931) *1853 - Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician, lieutenant-governor of Quebec (d. 1942) *1865 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (d. 1932) *1885 - Joe "King" Oliver, American jazz musician (d. 1938) *1888 - Fritz Reiner, Austro-Hungarian-born American conductor (d. 1963) *1894 - Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (d. 1978) *1901 - Rudolf Hell, German inventor (d. 2002) *1902 - Sir Ralph Richardson, British actor (d. 1983) *1903 - George Davis Snell, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996) *1906 - Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1982) *1907 - Jimmy McLarnin, former Welterweight Champion (d. 2004) *1909 - W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (d. 2002) *1910 - Jean Genet, French writer (d. 1986) *1915 - Édith Piaf, French singer and actress (d. 1963) *1918 - Professor Longhair, American blues musician (d. 1980) *1920 - David Susskind, American TV talk show host (d. 1987) *1923 - Gordon Jackson, British actor (d. 1990) *1924 - Edmund Purdom, English actor * 1924 - Doug Harvey, National Hockey League defenceman (d. 1989) *1925 - Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter * 1925 - Tankred Dorst, German dramatist *1927 - James Booth, British actor and screenwriter (d. 2005) *1929 - Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz musician * 1929 - Howard Sackler, American screenwriter (d. 1982) *1932 - Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer. *1933 - Cicely Tyson, American actress * 1933 - Kevan Gosper, Australian athlete *1934 - Al Kaline, baseball player * 1934 - Rudi Carrell, Dutch singer * 1934 - Casper R. Taylor, former Maryland politician. *1935 - Barbara Bostock, American actress * 1935 - Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist (d. 1974) *1936 - Marian McKnight, Miss America 1957 *1940 - Phil Ochs, American folk singer (d. 1976) *1941 - Maurice White, American singer and songwriter (Earth) *1943 - Ross M. Lence, American political scientist (d. 2006) *1944 - William Christie, American-born director of Les Arts Florissants * 1944 - Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematical physicist * 1944 - Richard Leakey, British anthropologist * 1944 - Alvin Lee, British singer/guitarist (Ten Years After) * 1944 - Tim Reid, American actor * 1944 - Zal Yanovsky, Canadian guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002) *1945 - Elaine Joyce, American actress *1946 - Robert Urich, American actor (d. 2002) *1948 - Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player *1949 - Nancy Kyes, American actress * 1949 - Sebastian, Danish musician *1956 - Tom Lawless, baseball player *1957 - Kevin McHale, American basketball player * 1957 - John Gulager, American film director * 1957 - Cyril Collard, French film director (d. 1993) *1958 - Limahl, British singer (Kajagoogoo) *1960 - Mike Lookinland, American actor * 1960 - Michelangelo Signorile, American writer *1961 - Eric Allin Cornell, Nobel Prize laureate * 1961 - Matthew Waterhouse, British actor * 1961 - Reggie White, American football player (d. 2004) *1963 - Jennifer Beals, American film actress *1964 - Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player *1965 - Chito Martinez, Belizean baseball player *1966 - Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player * 1966 - Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier *1966 - Chuckii Booker, American singer, musician and producer *1967 - Criss Angel, American illusionist and escapist * 1967 - Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor *1969 - Kristy Swanson, American actress * 1969 - Richard Hammond, British television presenter * 1969 - Villano IV, Mexican wrestler *1970 - Tyson Beckford, American model *1971 - Tiffany Towers, Canadian adult film actress * 1971 - Amy Locane, American actress *1972 - Alyssa Milano, American actress * 1972 - Warren Sapp, American football player *1973 - Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist * 1973 - Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor *1974 - Jake Plummer, American football player * 1974 - Ricky Ponting, Australian test cricketer * 1974 - Migé Amour, Bassist for the Finnish band, HIM *1975 - Olivier Tebily, Ivorian footballer *1977 - Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player *1978 - Patrick Casey, American screenwriter and actor *1979 - Paola Rey, Colombian actress *1979 - Kevin Devine, American musician. *1980 - Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor * 1980 - Marla Sokoloff, American actress *1982 - Vincent Accardi, American musician *1982 - Maurice Williams, American basketball player *1983 - Matt Stajan, NHL hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs) *1985 - Gary Cahill, English footballer * 1985 - Lady Sovereign, English musician *1987 - Karim Benzema, French footballer *1991 - Christine Valvano, American girlfriend of Matt McGarr *1991 - Declan Galbraith, British singer Deaths * 401 - Pope Anastasius I *1075 - Edith of Wessex, wife of Edward the Confessor of England *1327 - Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy *1370 - Pope Urban V (b. 1310) *1737 - James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland (b. 1667) *1741 - Vitus Bering, Danish-born explorer (b. 1681) *1745 - Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684) *1749 - Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (b. 1672) *1751 - Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1724) *1807 - Friedrich Melchior, German writer (b. 1723) *1813 - James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1744) *1814 - Joseph Bramah, Inventor and Locksmith, notably invented the beer pump *1819 - Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval officer and politician (b. 1765) *1848 - Emily Brontë, British author (b. 1818) *1915 - Alois Alzheimer, German neuroscientist (b. 1864) *1932 - Yoon Bong-Gil, Protester against Japanese occupation of Korea (executed) (b. 1908) *1938 - Stephen Warfield Gambrill, U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 5th District (b. 1873) *1939 - Hans Langsdorff, German naval officer (b. 1894) *1944 - Khedive Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874) * 1944 - Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (b. 1856) *1946 - Paul Langevin, French physicist (b. 1872) *1953 - Robert Millikan, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868) *1967 - Harold Holt, seventeenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908) *1968 - Norman Thomas, American socialist (b. 1884) *1982 - Dwight Macdonald, social critic, combative journalist and anarchist (b. 1906) *1986 - V. C. Andrews, American author (b. 1923) *1989 - Stella Gibbons, British author (b. 1902) *1991 - Joe Cole, roadie for American band Black Flag, Henry Rollins' best friend (b. 1961) *1993 - Michael Clarke, American drummer (The Byrds) (b. 1946) *1996 - Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (b. 1924) *1997 - Masaru Ibuka, Japanese industrialist (Sony) (b. 1908) * 1997 - Jimmy Rogers, American blues guitarist (b. 1924) *1999 - Desmond Llewelyn, British actor (b. 1914) *2000 - Robert Buck, American musician (10,000 Maniacs) (b. 1958) *2000 - Milt Hinton, American jazz double bassist (b. 1910) * 2000 - Pops Staples, American singer (The Staple Singers) (b. 1915) *2001 - Marcel Mule, French saxophonist. (b. 1901) *2003 - Peter Carter-Ruck, British lawyer (b. 1914) * 2003 - Hope Lange, American actress (b. 1931) *2004 - Herbert C. Brown, British-born American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912) * 2004 - Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (b. 1922) *2005 - Vincent Gigante, American mafioso (b. 1927) Holidays and observances * Roman festivals - Opalia *R.C. Saints – O Radix External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:December